The novel that I chose to read this quarter is Night by Elie Wiesel. I chose this novel because I have read many Holocaust books and, to me, it is an interesting subject. It is a time in history that fascinates me. One that is filled with amazing stories of inhumanity as well as incredible humanity. It also really tugs on my sensitive side because I am Jewish and I am free to be a Jew. This was a time in history when to be a Jew in Europe could quite possibly result in death. I am so thankful that I live today and not during this time .Books about the Holocaust demonstrate the strength of human spirit against all odds and so I continue to seek out novels about it. It also serves as a reminder that we should never let history repeat itself and that each of us has a responsibility and obligation to speak out against these kind of acts against humankind.
This novel, right now, is one of my favorite novels. This book is truly amazing and I would highly recommend it. This novel is quite graphic. Elie Wiesel uses explict detail to describe what is occuring throughout the novel. This was an effective way for the author to convey exactly what he went through. His words allow the reader to experience the horrible journey from childhood and freedom, to captivity and to loss of innocence.
Genre
This is a nonfiction autobiographical novel. It is an account of Elie Wiesel’s a real life person and his experiences as a Jew, in Europe during WWII and Hitler’s ultimate solution, the Holocaust. Everything within this novel is an actual occurence as recallled by the author. It is the story of real people during a critical part of history. This type of depiction is powerful because it makes the reader feel as though you were in the Concentration Camp with Elie Wiesel. His use of words certainly had this affect on me. There were many times in the book when I found myself sad or angry having similar feelings as to those that Elie was experiencing. The vivid way that he expresses his emotions and circumstances really help the reader "enter the book" and be there in the Holocaust with Elie Wiesel. As a survivor of the the Holocaust, the author retells the events of his experience ,that is what really makes this book so special. It was an amazing first hand account of an unbelievable journey.It was difficult to set the book down once you begin reading it. What never ceased to amaze me and what I find a bit mind blowing is what actually took place within the concentration camps.It describes things at times so horrifying that you find yourself wishing this was fiction but sadly it is not.
Plot
The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel has an amazing plot. The average reader thinks this book is going to have a happy ending., afterall the main character survives. Unfortunately,it is not the kind of feel good story that people anticipate. The memoir starts off talking about Eliezer Wiesel preHolocaust. He is 15 years of age and Jewish, he lives in the town of Sighet,Transylavania. His only want is to learn Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Judaism. A simple life, a simplier time. He then meets a man. Moshe is a Polish Jew who had escaped the front of the war and made it to the town of Sighet. The people of Sighet, in general do not care for Polish Jews but they seem to tolerate Moshe. Moshe however has knowledge of Kabbalah and through this sharing of knowledge, Moshe and Elie develop a friendship. Then one day Moshe is gone eventually he returns and the reader learns that he was in a concentration camp. He begins his fruitless attempt to warn everbody about the monstrocities of the concentration camps. He warns the people of Sighet of the unspeakable horrors that the Germans are inflicting on the Jews and tells them to run away or they will die. This was another critical part of the novel because the words of warning fall on deaf ears and it forshadows the horrors yet to come. Unfortunately, all the people of Sighet believed that this could not happen to them and that Moshe was either crazy or ridiculous or both. Sadly, if they had listened many could have been saved. And then it begins. The slow innocuous invasion of the Germans. They did not come as obvious adversaries but settled into the town and into the locals homes. They seemed nice and even helpful. They were lulled into a false sense of complacency. Then the edicts began. 'Do not leave your home or you will be killed.' Next came the ghettos which cut the city in half and forced the Jews of Sighet to leave their homes. After the establishment of the Ghettos, the Germans began to slowly withdraw from Sighet. But first,the Germans established a Jewish Council and a police force aslo comprised of Jews to "rule" over the Ghetto and to make the necessary decisions under the new regimen. This is the first of many times the reader sees the creation of a pecking order where those once considered friends or peers no tae charge and exert their authority for their own betterment and at the expense of others. The people of Sighet saw this arrangment, of Jews in charge of charge of Jews as a satisfactory arrangement. This went on for about two weeks or so. Then Eliezer's Father is called to a meeting where he is told that all Jews were going to be transported. Slowly, but surely, the Jews of Sighet were transported out of the homes and town to Concentration Camps.The day comes when it is time for Eliezer and his family to leave. It is upon their arrival at the Concentration Camp that Eliezer, for the first time in his life, sees his Father show emotions. The horrific reality of the crematoriums which allowed for the mass disposal of the millions killed by Nazi soldiers to the certain truth that as he was seperated from his wife and daughter that he would never see them again. This is just the beginning of the long and terrible journey of one persons plight in a Concentration Camp. To tell more would to do a disservice to the story. It is in the telling of the story that the reader discovers the truths and experiences of perserverance, of loss and the inhumanity of some and the genuine kindness of others but it is only in the telling that you can know.
Characters There were not many people whom were described in detail in the novel Night,but the main characters of the book were Elie Wiesel (whose full name is Eliezer Wiesel),the second most important character is Eliezer's Father, Shlomo, and Moshe the Beadle.
Moshe was only in the novel for the first two chapters but what he shares is a forshadow of things to come. At the start of the novel Moshe is a Jew who came from Poland with other Jews to escape the front of battle in WWII. He and Eliezer develop an unusual friendship through religion. This is because Moshe knows Kabbalah and Eliezer yearns to learn it. His father tells him that nobody in Sighet knows it and you cannot learn it until you are thirty. Throughout the start of the novel, after praying and crying over the destroyed temple Eliezer would meet up with Moshe and Moshe would teach him Kabbalah. A important role that Moshe has in the story is that he tries to warn all of the people in Sighet about the horrors the Germans are doing to the Jews and that if they did not all run now they will all die. But everyone thought he was crazy and did not give him a moment of their time.If people only were to listen to him maybe more would have survived the monstroasoity known as a concentration camp. "As for Moshe he wept and pleaded. Jews, listen to me! That’s all I ask of you. No money. No pity. Just listen to me!" This is when Moshe is trying to warn the Jews of Sighet before the Germans come and then he disappears never to be heard from again.
Eliezer's father is also an important character. His father is there for close to the entirety of the novel. At first, his father is a big part of the Community of Sighet. Everyone loved him, but he was not the greatest family man according to his son Elie. Not once until the Holocaust has Eliezer seen an emotion come from his Dad. As the story progresses, his father seems to become more fragile both physically and emotionally. Certainly between the rigors of hard labor and the daily horrors it is no wonder that it takes its toll on someone of any age but particularly on someone who never thought they would live to see such horrible things. The first time he cries is when he gets to the camp and sees the children in the pits and dead bodies all around. It is especially difficult when he realizes that all those Jews will be cremated in the massive crematoriums.Cremation is against the Jewish religion. This part even made me well up a little. There is another episode in the book when Eliezer's father is participating in 'the selection', a process by which the Germans would determine who would get to live another day and who shall die. "My inheritance" this is said by his father at selection as he passes his last possessesions on which are now just a spoon and a knife. A life once rich with love and goodness now reduced to a spoon and knife.The other important element of this character is how Elie is forced to assume the role of caregiver as his Father relinquishes his hope and his ability to care for his son. Elie becomes the protector and the caregiver. An example was this was when the Germans wanted Elie to give them his gold tooth. He inititally refused understanding the potential of having something so valuable. But then he realizes that the Germans are beating his Father until he gives them his tooth. Elie than realizes that there is something more important than gold and that he has a responsbiity to protect his Father.
Eliezer who is the mian character of the book and suffers many battles both physically and emotionally throughout the entire memoir. He struggles with the obvious hardships of life in a concentration camp: starvation, extreme temperatures, and disease. He suffers the loss of a mother and a sister. He survives learning to understand and work a system which determined survival, trading. He has to learn to care for himslef in ways that he never had to in the past and would not typically be expected of a 15 year old boy. He hears horrible stories that no child should hear but also experienced those horrible stories in his day to day life in the concentration camp. In addition, he must also learn to protect and care for his Father. Struggling unknowingly that it should, in fact, be the other way around. But his ability to meet these challenges is an example of Elie's inner strength, courage and intellect.But it is the internal struggles that are the most compelling. Loss of faith. Loss of innocence,the struggle to remain hopeful even in the darkest of times. Elie shares with the reader his desire at times to die, his struggle with caring for his Father when it would perhaps be simplier to care for himself. His choices are not simple and the reader shares in his inner dialogue as he struggles to make choices, good or bad, right or wrong. Although not a hero in the traditional sense, Elie demonstrates characteristics of a hero. He perseveres and he tries to do what is right not only for himslef but for his family (Father). He is not without fault but it is in his flaws that we recognize ourselves and can't help but wonder what would we had done had it been us.
Themes
The main themes of the memoir are the struggle to keep faith in a benevolent God, inhumanity towards other humans, father/son bonds, and silence.
Struggle to keep faith in a benevolent God Before the Holocaust, God was a big part of Eliezer life. He would pray and thought that God was great and benovlent until he saw the horrors in which men did to other men in these camps. There are many times in which the reader can see a loss in faith in the characters in the book. An example is when they keep thinking to themselves "Is this a test from God?" or "Why does God test us?" These kind of questions suggest that they are losing faith that God will save them from this horrible place known as a concentration camp. He thinks that a benevolent God would never let people kill millions of other men just because of their religion. Why wasn't his God there to save him or take him away to a better place? These are all questions in which Eliezer asks himself. His belief in mankinds goodness is shaken heavily when he see's the terror of the camps. This is where he himself really just loses all faith that the God he believed in was benevolent or helpful because no matter how much he prayed he would not do anything so he stop praying. Also the Jews within the camp all together stop believeing in God for the same reasons in which Eliezer did. At first they try and fast on the high holy day which requires fasting to repent for ones sins. But soon they realize that they barely get enough food as it is and to not eat would mean to die. Really the concentration camp broke not only there spirt but also took from them their souls and everything such as family, love, happiness all of it gone.
Inhumanity towards other Humans Inhumanity is probably the most significant and easiest to see theme, but i believe it is very important to talk about. An example for this is when the Nazis have something known as selection. It is a version of "Natural Selection" made by the Germans. In this only the fit and best working Jews are allowed to continue working or living. Those who passed the test lived those who did not pass where killed. Another example of this theme is the amount of food they give them. They were innocent people captive within these camps but they were fed as if they had committed treason, most were "sentenced to death" not really sentenced but more just slayed and buried in a mass grave. There are so many parts in which the reader can see how badly Germans treated the Jewish during this sad part of history. Not only though is it how badly the Jews are treated by the Germans, but all the prisoners in the camp unless family are not that nice to each other. An example of this is when they threaten to beat Eliezer's Father for not marching correctly and its funny to them unless he were to give them his gold tooth. Blackmail was one way in which prisoners were evil to each other but another way in which Germans dehumanized the Jews was to strip them of their dignity, respect, and humanity and just made them numbers. Tthey were easier to kill just as a number because at this point they were no longer looked at as humans.
Father/son Bonds Father son bonds really have giant effect on Eliezers survival during the Holocaust. At the start his father really tries his hardest to protect Eliezer. But age really showed in the camps because he started to become so very weak the hardships really made people age more and made them more fragile and the older you were the ven older you seemed because some of the people had not worked 12 hours a day moving heavy things 7 days a week. At first he would give rations of food to Eliezer then as he became weak it switched. For a kid to take care of someone in a harsh enviroment is extremely hard and eventually he looks at it as a hassle for a while. But this really changes one day when they are running to a different camp in the freezing cold weather. One of the kids runs ahead of his dad and and he dies because of a stomach ace because of no one to push or comfort him. His dad then dies because he just stops because he is in shock that his son died and then the Germans just shot him and left him there. Eliezer saw the son die and was not going to let this happen to him and his father.
Silence For silence, I found a poem that I think fits this memoir perfectly. "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me."
---Martin Niemoller.
Silence is a prominent theme in Night. For example, when Moshe is trying to tell everyone what is going to happen to them if they stay in Sighet, but nobody wants to hear or listen to him so they want him to be silent. No one in Sighet believed that this could happen to them so they ignored him people also never spoke on their own behalf. When the Germans came for the Jews the neighbors or people of the town who were not Jewish did not help them or speak out for them. Another example is when Elie keeps praying to God to save them, and can't understand why God has chosen to stay silent.
Major Conflict in the Novel The real major conflict of this story is Eliezer's struggle to survive the Holocaust, along with keeping his father alive and staying sane. When he first arrives at the concentration camp, there is a lot of thought about suicide. He keeps saying: "The electric fence is right there," and keeps thinking "Why not? I will probably die anyway." Eliezer then saw this as selfish. Why should he get to leave torture on Earth while his family gets left behind? This really took suicide off the table for Eliezer. There are countless times when the smallest thing could help him survive the struggle to keep himself alive. For example, he gets a pair of shoes and those keep his feet warm, warmth was everything during the cold winters.. Maybe sometime down the road he could have traded those shoes to help keep himself alive by trading for food, or clothes, or even a better work place. There are many parts about the book where trade plays a big role in helping him survive, such as trading his gold tooth, his shoes, or even a ration of food. He pretty much trades and loses his value during the whole novel. The memoir really is all about Eliezer's struggle to survive the Holocaust and his struggle to keep his father alive and maybe see a day out of the Holocaust.
Download to see picture
The reason i made this drawing was because it really tals about how the Germans see the Jews. They see them as just a bunch of numbers and they would slowly kill of these "numbers" in bury them and have no respectfor them. Maybe around 100 people would be put in a pit or in a pile and just put dirt over them. They really didnot care how they were treated to them they were evil and caused Germanys downfall. The reason i compared this photo to the memoir is because to the Germans eyes he is only numbers, even during role they do not say Eliezer they just say his number, if they killed him jsut scratch the name off the list and keep going as if nothing had happen. The book really is a sadstory about his survival but sadly there where many people who didnt survive and in the photo thats what the numbers represent. Also the number represent the people who were completely striped of human rights and humanity itself. They lost all humanity, dignity, respect, and became numbers, and to this was the Germans way to dehumanize them and made it so that they could execute them much easier because they were just numbers.
Definitions of Words Zohar; The chief text of the Jewish Kabbalah, presented as an allegorical or mystical interpretation of the Pentateuch. Hermetically; Made alright by fusion or sealing. Kapos; They were Jewish police appointed by the Germans. Famished; extremely hungry emaciated; bony: very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; "emaciated bony hands"
Other Works -Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank -Number the Stars, Lois Lowry -Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne -The Book Thief, Markus Zusak -Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and Los Angeles -Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg -Day, Elie Wiesel - Defiance, directed by Edward Zwick - Dawn, Elie Wiesel All of the books above are about the Holocaust. They tell stories of people who have survived, witnessed people enter concentration camps, and victims of the concentration camps. The majority of these are nonfiction accounts of events which took place during a sad time in our planets history. Since all of these accounts are involved in the Holocaust they share one very important theme of Inhumanity towards other humans. The reader can see this in many ways such as marching the Jews through the streets in The Book Thief, or Selection in Night, Day, and Dawn by Elie Wiesel, or even the death of the young German boy in the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. But amongst all these cruelities there were those who where able stay humane and do the right thing preserving dignity and life. Both of the movies above are about saving Jews from a certain death. In Defiance one man leads a group of Jewish refugees into the forest and builds a camp and saves them from the Holocaust. In Schindler’s List the main character Oskar Schindler saves many Jewish by keeping them in his factory to work after noticing the deaths of many Jewish people, this was a true story. Since these are movies and have to appeal to all audiences the theme of heroism is central to the movies. The books on the other hand, display the multifaceted aspects of the Holocaust. The Holocaust Museums where built to remember the innocent victims as well and their experiences, it was also bulit for the survivors to come and maybe see if they could find a family members name once again so they could honor them, and we as a country could honor everyone too.
Why I Picked This Novel
The novel that I chose to read this quarter is Night by Elie Wiesel. I chose this novel because I have read many Holocaust books and, to me, it is an interesting subject. It is a time in history that fascinates me. One that is filled with amazing stories of inhumanity as well as incredible humanity. It also really tugs on my sensitive side because I am Jewish and I am free to be a Jew. This was a time in history when to be a Jew in Europe could quite possibly result in death. I am so thankful that I live today and not during this time .Books about the Holocaust demonstrate the strength of human spirit against all odds and so I continue to seek out novels about it. It also serves as a reminder that we should never let history repeat itself and that each of us has a responsibility and obligation to speak out against these kind of acts against humankind.
This novel, right now, is one of my favorite novels. This book is truly amazing and I would highly recommend it. This novel is quite graphic. Elie Wiesel uses explict detail to describe what is occuring throughout the novel. This was an effective way for the author to convey exactly what he went through. His words allow the reader to experience the horrible journey from childhood and freedom, to captivity and to loss of innocence.
Genre
This is a nonfiction autobiographical novel. It is an account of Elie Wiesel’s a real life person and his experiences as a Jew, in Europe during WWII and Hitler’s ultimate solution, the Holocaust. Everything within this novel is an actual occurence as recallled by the author. It is the story of real people during a critical part of history. This type of depiction is powerful because it makes the reader feel as though you were in the Concentration Camp with Elie Wiesel. His use of words certainly had this affect on me. There were many times in the book when I found myself sad or angry having similar feelings as to those that Elie was experiencing. The vivid way that he expresses his emotions and circumstances really help the reader "enter the book" and be there in the Holocaust with Elie Wiesel. As a survivor of the the Holocaust, the author retells the events of his experience ,that is what really makes this book so special. It was an amazing first hand account of an unbelievable journey.It was difficult to set the book down once you begin reading it. What never ceased to amaze me and what I find a bit mind blowing is what actually took place within the concentration camps.It describes things at times so horrifying that you find yourself wishing this was fiction but sadly it is not.
Plot
The memoir Night by Elie Wiesel has an amazing plot. The average reader thinks this book is going to have a happy ending., afterall the main character survives. Unfortunately,it is not the kind of feel good story that people anticipate. The memoir starts off talking about Eliezer Wiesel preHolocaust. He is 15 years of age and Jewish, he lives in the town of Sighet,Transylavania. His only want is to learn Kabbalah, the mystical teachings of Judaism. A simple life, a simplier time. He then meets a man. Moshe is a Polish Jew who had escaped the front of the war and made it to the town of Sighet. The people of Sighet, in general do not care for Polish Jews but they seem to tolerate Moshe. Moshe however has knowledge of Kabbalah and through this sharing of knowledge, Moshe and Elie develop a friendship. Then one day Moshe is gone eventually he returns and the reader learns that he was in a concentration camp. He begins his fruitless attempt to warn everbody about the monstrocities of the concentration camps. He warns the people of Sighet of the unspeakable horrors that the Germans are inflicting on the Jews and tells them to run away or they will die. This was another critical part of the novel because the words of warning fall on deaf ears and it forshadows the horrors yet to come. Unfortunately, all the people of Sighet believed that this could not happen to them and that Moshe was either crazy or ridiculous or both. Sadly, if they had listened many could have been saved. And then it begins. The slow innocuous invasion of the Germans. They did not come as obvious adversaries but settled into the town and into the locals homes. They seemed nice and even helpful. They were lulled into a false sense of complacency. Then the edicts began. 'Do not leave your home or you will be killed.' Next came the ghettos which cut the city in half and forced the Jews of Sighet to leave their homes. After the establishment of the Ghettos, the Germans began to slowly withdraw from Sighet. But first,the Germans established a Jewish Council and a police force aslo comprised of Jews to "rule" over the Ghetto and to make the necessary decisions under the new regimen. This is the first of many times the reader sees the creation of a pecking order where those once considered friends or peers no tae charge and exert their authority for their own betterment and at the expense of others. The people of Sighet saw this arrangment, of Jews in charge of charge of Jews as a satisfactory arrangement. This went on for about two weeks or so. Then Eliezer's Father is called to a meeting where he is told that all Jews were going to be transported. Slowly, but surely, the Jews of Sighet were transported out of the homes and town to Concentration Camps.The day comes when it is time for Eliezer and his family to leave. It is upon their arrival at the Concentration Camp that Eliezer, for the first time in his life, sees his Father show emotions. The horrific reality of the crematoriums which allowed for the mass disposal of the millions killed by Nazi soldiers to the certain truth that as he was seperated from his wife and daughter that he would never see them again. This is just the beginning of the long and terrible journey of one persons plight in a Concentration Camp. To tell more would to do a disservice to the story. It is in the telling of the story that the reader discovers the truths and experiences of perserverance, of loss and the inhumanity of some and the genuine kindness of others but it is only in the telling that you can know.
Characters
There were not many people whom were described in detail in the novel Night,but the main characters of the book were Elie Wiesel (whose full name is Eliezer Wiesel),the second most important character is Eliezer's Father, Shlomo, and Moshe the Beadle.
Moshe was only in the novel for the first two chapters but what he shares is a forshadow of things to come. At the start of the novel Moshe is a Jew who came from Poland with other Jews to escape the front of battle in WWII. He and Eliezer develop an unusual friendship through religion. This is because Moshe knows Kabbalah and Eliezer yearns to learn it. His father tells him that nobody in Sighet knows it and you cannot learn it until you are thirty. Throughout the start of the novel, after praying and crying over the destroyed temple Eliezer would meet up with Moshe and Moshe would teach him Kabbalah. A important role that Moshe has in the story is that he tries to warn all of the people in Sighet about the horrors the Germans are doing to the Jews and that if they did not all run now they will all die. But everyone thought he was crazy and did not give him a moment of their time.If people only were to listen to him maybe more would have survived the monstroasoity known as a concentration camp. "As for Moshe he wept and pleaded. Jews, listen to me! That’s all I ask of you. No money. No pity. Just listen to me!" This is when Moshe is trying to warn the Jews of Sighet before the Germans come and then he disappears never to be heard from again.
Eliezer's father is also an important character. His father is there for close to the entirety of the novel. At first, his father is a big part of the Community of Sighet. Everyone loved him, but he was not the greatest family man according to his son Elie. Not once until the Holocaust has Eliezer seen an emotion come from his Dad. As the story progresses, his father seems to become more fragile both physically and emotionally. Certainly between the rigors of hard labor and the daily horrors it is no wonder that it takes its toll on someone of any age but particularly on someone who never thought they would live to see such horrible things. The first time he cries is when he gets to the camp and sees the children in the pits and dead bodies all around. It is especially difficult when he realizes that all those Jews will be cremated in the massive crematoriums.Cremation is against the Jewish religion. This part even made me well up a little. There is another episode in the book when Eliezer's father is participating in 'the selection', a process by which the Germans would determine who would get to live another day and who shall die. "My inheritance" this is said by his father at selection as he passes his last possessesions on which are now just a spoon and a knife. A life once rich with love and goodness now reduced to a spoon and knife.The other important element of this character is how Elie is forced to assume the role of caregiver as his Father relinquishes his hope and his ability to care for his son. Elie becomes the protector and the caregiver. An example was this was when the Germans wanted Elie to give them his gold tooth. He inititally refused understanding the potential of having something so valuable. But then he realizes that the Germans are beating his Father until he gives them his tooth. Elie than realizes that there is something more important than gold and that he has a responsbiity to protect his Father.
Eliezer who is the mian character of the book and suffers many battles both physically and emotionally throughout the entire memoir. He struggles with the obvious hardships of life in a concentration camp: starvation, extreme temperatures, and disease. He suffers the loss of a mother and a sister. He survives learning to understand and work a system which determined survival, trading. He has to learn to care for himslef in ways that he never had to in the past and would not typically be expected of a 15 year old boy. He hears horrible stories that no child should hear but also experienced those horrible stories in his day to day life in the concentration camp. In addition, he must also learn to protect and care for his Father. Struggling unknowingly that it should, in fact, be the other way around. But his ability to meet these challenges is an example of Elie's inner strength, courage and intellect.But it is the internal struggles that are the most compelling. Loss of faith. Loss of innocence,the struggle to remain hopeful even in the darkest of times. Elie shares with the reader his desire at times to die, his struggle with caring for his Father when it would perhaps be simplier to care for himself. His choices are not simple and the reader shares in his inner dialogue as he struggles to make choices, good or bad, right or wrong. Although not a hero in the traditional sense, Elie demonstrates characteristics of a hero. He perseveres and he tries to do what is right not only for himslef but for his family (Father). He is not without fault but it is in his flaws that we recognize ourselves and can't help but wonder what would we had done had it been us.
Themes
The main themes of the memoir are the struggle to keep faith in a benevolent God, inhumanity towards other humans, father/son bonds, and silence.
Struggle to keep faith in a benevolent God
Before the Holocaust, God was a big part of Eliezer life. He would pray and thought that God was great and benovlent until he saw the horrors in which men did to other men in these camps. There are many times in which the reader can see a loss in faith in the characters in the book. An example is when they keep thinking to themselves "Is this a test from God?" or "Why does God test us?" These kind of questions suggest that they are losing faith that God will save them from this horrible place known as a concentration camp. He thinks that a benevolent God would never let people kill millions of other men just because of their religion. Why wasn't his God there to save him or take him away to a better place? These are all questions in which Eliezer asks himself. His belief in mankinds goodness is shaken heavily when he see's the terror of the camps. This is where he himself really just loses all faith that the God he believed in was benevolent or helpful because no matter how much he prayed he would not do anything so he stop praying. Also the Jews within the camp all together stop believeing in God for the same reasons in which Eliezer did. At first they try and fast on the high holy day which requires fasting to repent for ones sins. But soon they realize that they barely get enough food as it is and to not eat would mean to die. Really the concentration camp broke not only there spirt but also took from them their souls and everything such as family, love, happiness all of it gone.
Inhumanity towards other Humans
Inhumanity is probably the most significant and easiest to see theme, but i believe it is very important to talk about. An example for this is when the Nazis have something known as selection. It is a version of "Natural Selection" made by the Germans. In this only the fit and best working Jews are allowed to continue working or living. Those who passed the test lived those who did not pass where killed. Another example of this theme is the amount of food they give them. They were innocent people captive within these camps but they were fed as if they had committed treason, most were "sentenced to death" not really sentenced but more just slayed and buried in a mass grave. There are so many parts in which the reader can see how badly Germans treated the Jewish during this sad part of history. Not only though is it how badly the Jews are treated by the Germans, but all the prisoners in the camp unless family are not that nice to each other. An example of this is when they threaten to beat Eliezer's Father for not marching correctly and its funny to them unless he were to give them his gold tooth. Blackmail was one way in which prisoners were evil to each other but another way in which Germans dehumanized the Jews was to strip them of their dignity, respect, and humanity and just made them numbers. Tthey were easier to kill just as a number because at this point they were no longer looked at as humans.
Father/son Bonds
Father son bonds really have giant effect on Eliezers survival during the Holocaust. At the start his father really tries his hardest to protect Eliezer. But age really showed in the camps because he started to become so very weak the hardships really made people age more and made them more fragile and the older you were the ven older you seemed because some of the people had not worked 12 hours a day moving heavy things 7 days a week. At first he would give rations of food to Eliezer then as he became weak it switched. For a kid to take care of someone in a harsh enviroment is extremely hard and eventually he looks at it as a hassle for a while. But this really changes one day when they are running to a different camp in the freezing cold weather. One of the kids runs ahead of his dad and and he dies because of a stomach ace because of no one to push or comfort him. His dad then dies because he just stops because he is in shock that his son died and then the Germans just shot him and left him there. Eliezer saw the son die and was not going to let this happen to him and his father.
Silence
For silence, I found a poem that I think fits this memoir perfectly.
"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me."
---Martin Niemoller.
Silence is a prominent theme in Night. For example, when Moshe is trying to tell everyone what is going to happen to them if they stay in Sighet, but nobody wants to hear or listen to him so they want him to be silent. No one in Sighet believed that this could happen to them so they ignored him people also never spoke on their own behalf. When the Germans came for the Jews the neighbors or people of the town who were not Jewish did not help them or speak out for them. Another example is when Elie keeps praying to God to save them, and can't understand why God has chosen to stay silent.
Major Conflict in the Novel
The real major conflict of this story is Eliezer's struggle to survive the Holocaust, along with keeping his father alive and staying sane. When he first arrives at the concentration camp, there is a lot of thought about suicide. He keeps saying: "The electric fence is right there," and keeps thinking "Why not? I will probably die anyway." Eliezer then saw this as selfish. Why should he get to leave torture on Earth while his family gets left behind? This really took suicide off the table for Eliezer. There are countless times when the smallest thing could help him survive the struggle to keep himself alive. For example, he gets a pair of shoes and those keep his feet warm, warmth was everything during the cold winters.. Maybe sometime down the road he could have traded those shoes to help keep himself alive by trading for food, or clothes, or even a better work place. There are many parts about the book where trade plays a big role in helping him survive, such as trading his gold tooth, his shoes, or even a ration of food. He pretty much trades and loses his value during the whole novel. The memoir really is all about Eliezer's struggle to survive the Holocaust and his struggle to keep his father alive and maybe see a day out of the Holocaust.
Symbol
The reason i made this drawing was because it really tals about how the Germans see the Jews. They see them as just a bunch of numbers and they would slowly kill of these "numbers" in bury them and have no respectfor them. Maybe around 100 people would be put in a pit or in a pile and just put dirt over them. They really didnot care how they were treated to them they were evil and caused Germanys downfall. The reason i compared this photo to the memoir is because to the Germans eyes he is only numbers, even during role they do not say Eliezer they just say his number, if they killed him jsut scratch the name off the list and keep going as if nothing had happen. The book really is a sadstory about his survival but sadly there where many people who didnt survive and in the photo thats what the numbers represent. Also the number represent the people who were completely striped of human rights and humanity itself. They lost all humanity, dignity, respect, and became numbers, and to this was the Germans way to dehumanize them and made it so that they could execute them much easier because they were just numbers.
Definitions of Words
Zohar; The chief text of the Jewish Kabbalah, presented as an allegorical or mystical interpretation of the Pentateuch.
Hermetically; Made alright by fusion or sealing.
Kapos; They were Jewish police appointed by the Germans.
Famished; extremely hungry
emaciated; bony: very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; "emaciated bony hands"
Other Works
-Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
-Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
-Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne
-The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
-Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and Los Angeles
-Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg
-Day, Elie Wiesel
- Defiance, directed by Edward Zwick
- Dawn, Elie Wiesel
All of the books above are about the Holocaust. They tell stories of people who have survived, witnessed people enter concentration camps, and victims of the concentration camps. The majority of these are nonfiction accounts of events which took place during a sad time in our planets history. Since all of these accounts are involved in the Holocaust they share one very important theme of Inhumanity towards other humans. The reader can see this in many ways such as marching the Jews through the streets in The Book Thief, or Selection in Night, Day, and Dawn by Elie Wiesel, or even the death of the young German boy in the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. But amongst all these cruelities there were those who where able stay humane and do the right thing preserving dignity and life. Both of the movies above are about saving Jews from a certain death. In Defiance one man leads a group of Jewish refugees into the forest and builds a camp and saves them from the Holocaust. In Schindler’s List the main character Oskar Schindler saves many Jewish by keeping them in his factory to work after noticing the deaths of many Jewish people, this was a true story. Since these are movies and have to appeal to all audiences the theme of heroism is central to the movies. The books on the other hand, display the multifaceted aspects of the Holocaust. The Holocaust Museums where built to remember the innocent victims as well and their experiences, it was also bulit for the survivors to come and maybe see if they could find a family members name once again so they could honor them, and we as a country could honor everyone too.
Goodreads Review link
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1617.Nigh